


Her First

by Salora_Rainriver



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, F/F, Jealousy, Memory shit, Oneshot, Shadow Weaver is a bitch, Trauma, past relationship / exes, this is a oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 22:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16982961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salora_Rainriver/pseuds/Salora_Rainriver
Summary: Catra tries out cartography, and accidentally runs into two stargazing lesbians. She is disgusted.Meanwhile, Glimmer wants to be someone Adora can rely on.





	Her First

The broken trees and eerie stillness of the ruined Whispering Woods really makes it all the easier for Catra to navigate it this time around. The way the old trees twisted around, messed with your sense of direction, it was so infuriating. This was much easier. The new growth wasn’t quite strong enough to do all that yet.  
Were she not part of the Horde, were she not Hordak’s second in command, this could be considered some innocent exploration. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. This is an important mission, one that she only trusts herself to complete. She’s mapping out the landscape of the Whispering Woods before the trees grow big enough to obscure it. With a proper topographical map, the Horde will be able to navigate the treacherous woods with greater ease… and thus, get closer to taking Bright Moon. 

Naturally, Entrapta’s mapping technology is handling all the hard bits. Catra just needs to walk it around the woods and let it do its thing… and also not be seen by any rebels, a task that will become harder and harder the closer she gets to Bright Moon. 

Of course, it’s the dead of night, and everyone seems to be asleep. Which makes this mission a bit, ah. Boring. Landmarks are important navigational tools, and except for the small trench which Catra has named ‘Idiot’s Ravine,’ and the First Ones ruin that she’s dubbed ‘Fort Sparkle’, there’s been… nothing. Like, literally nothing. Can the 15th hill in a row be called a landmark? Not exactly.  
So when she finally makes it to that cursed freaking ruin, that Crystal Castle where she was forced to go through the tamest and sappiest of her childhood memories, Catra felt an odd sense of relief. Finally. A major landmark! Something interesting and notable! She’s so excited, she almost runs right out of the trees into the castle’s courtyard.  
But wait. She’s not alone. Ears perked, she stays to the shadows made by the fallen trees and their much smaller heirs, as the indistinct sounds of motion become clearer… giggling. Two voices, two women… oh are you freaking kidding me?

Catra’s ears fold back in disgust as she sees them, her ex friend, now arch nemesis, and her new… ugh. Girlfriend. Of course it would be those two. Why would it be anyone else? Catra moves much slower now, trying to silence the soft humming of the mapping device as she inches closer to Adora and Glimmer, that sickeningly sweet couple that’s just laughing and cuddling and swapping stories and telling jokes. Is this a date? Is this Adora’s idea of a date? Run off to this creepy castle and snuggle under the black sky- oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. This freaking castle has some kind of holographic star map, and now Adora’s laying down with Twinkletoes, and they’re trying to find the shapes in the stars and make up silly stories and UGH, IT’S DISGUSTING.

Catra’s not jealous. That’s what she tells herself as she slinks behind pillars and tree trunks as her little pocket cartographer eagerly soaks up the data. Catra only has to watch this stupid cuddlefest for a little while, and then she can sneak off into the woods again. The peaceful boring woods that would almost be a relief now, compared to these stupid feelings that tell her she should be there in the courtyard watching the stars. Not twinkletoes. Her. 

As Catra watches the two mumble, so absorbed in each other, so sickeningly lovey-dovey, Adora says something that really makes the Force Captain’s stomach turn. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a girlfriend before.”

Gross. Gross. Gross. Disgusting.  
She completes her circle around the Crystal Castle and makes to leave. Thaymor shouldn’t be far from here.

====

Glimmer watches the stars. 

Well, they’re not quite the stars. The stars haven’t been in the sky for a thousand years. Maybe one day, they’ll be back in the sky, but for now, she’ll have to settle for this projected memory. Maybe the stars will be different when they return? Maybe they’ll have moved? Do stars ever move? She’s heard of shooting stars, but… Perhaps that’s not the same thing. Glimmer looks over to Adora. Her beautiful, strong, brave friend, Adora. To be frank, Glimmer worries about her sometimes. She’s always taking on the weight of the world, and while she’s strong enough to handle the huge responsibility placed on her shoulders… Glimmer can see that it hurts. Adora doesn’t deserve that pain. And it wouldn’t be so bad if Glimmer just. Took a bit of that weight off her shoulders, right? It wouldn’t ruin everything, would it? 

Adora’s bright blue eyes are staring right at her now, brows furrowed in concern. Of course, Glimmer’s troubled thoughts have darkened her expression. But before Adora can remark on it, Glimmer pulls her in for a hug, holding on tight as, to Glimmer’s own surprise, she starts crying.  
“You don’t have to do this alone.”  
“I… I wasn’t planning to?” Adora asks, confusion evident in her voice. Glimmer just shakes her head and holds on tighter.  
“And I don’t just mean fighting. In. In everything, Adora. I love you.”  
Adora laughs softly, her arms finally wrapping around Glimmer’s soft body, stroking her hair. “Where did this come from?”  
“We’ve both been very lonely. It took so long for us to have real friends, you know? And sometimes, I feel like I need someone to fill in the quieter spaces. Someone to hold me, or maybe someone to hold. Like… like a girlfriend.”  
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a girlfriend.”

They’re so close now. Glimmer can feel Adora’s breath on her face, and normally, that would be really gross, but it’s Adora, and the warmth is just a reminder of the intimacy of the moment.

“Well, neither have I,” she says,voice trembling with a strange excitement, “so… let’s be girlfriends.” 

Adora smiles that beautiful smile, and Glimmer smiles back. She musters up the courage to make the first move, make this official… but then she hears something. On instinct, the two of them rise to their feet, just in time to see a shadow darting away. 

“Was that a…” Adora begins to ask, before Glimmer answers.  
“Deer don’t run on two legs. Stay here. I’m going to check it out.”

She’s gone before Adora can protest. 

Teleporting is the opposite of stealthy, but it’s faster than any creature on Etheria can run. Glimmer’s quarry seems to be aware of this, ducking and weaving and making sure to try and confuse her enough to make a quick getaway, but the Whispering Woods are quiet now, the trees are young and thin, and Glimmer isn’t easily misdirected. It’s not long before she catches up to the humanoid shadow, snatching Catra out of the trees and tackling her to the ground. 

“Ugh! Let go of me, you big, fat, glitterbomb!”  
Glimmer does not let go. Are you kidding me? This is Force Captain Catra. She’s never up to anything good. “What are you doing here?”  
“Enjoying the scenery?! If I was here to fight, I would have fought you guys! Duh!”  
“So… you’re spying!”  
“So what if I am?! It’s just a bunch of trees and stupid kissing girls, who cares, now let! Me! Go!” 

She punctuates that last cry with her claws, wrestling out of the princess’ grip and swiping at her face. She’s about to run away, but a flash of sparkling light disorients her just enough for Glimmer to pin her against one of the larger tree trunks. She’s not done interrogating. 

“Guess the Horde doesn’t like gossip, huh?” She says with a grin.  
“You think what you have with her is special? Huh?”  
The jealousy in Catra’s voice is palpable, and Glimmer hears it. She figured there was some sort of feelings behind the way the two of them spoke of each other, but obviously, it never amounted to anything more than a vague pining. After all, Adora’s never had a girlfriend before.

“I mean, being someone’s first kiss is kinda special, isn’t it?” Glimmer says, knowing full well that taunt will crawl right under Catra’s skin. Well… or so she thought. But instead of snarling, Catra started laughing.  
“Oh, that’s precious! You think you’re her first!”  
“Well… not yet, but-”  
“Oh honey, you’re never gonna be her first kiss.”

Catra’s grin is full of venom and spite and smug superiority, and Glimmer hates it. What does she have to be smug about?  
“And what makes you so sure of that?!”  
“Oh, it’s simple,” She says, not even trying to escape now as she looks straight into Glimmer’s eyes and says something that makes Glimmer freeze in shock.  
“I already was her first.” 

Glimmer’s mind was reeling. That didn’t make any sense. Did Adora lie? No, she wouldn’t lie, she… 

Catra very nearly slipped away, and like a flash, she was pinned to the tree again. No distractions. No tricks. Glimmer was going to get answers.  
"Yeah, right. I think my new girlfriend would have told me if you were her ex.”  
“She doesn’t remember. She can’t remember. Shadow Weaver made sure of that.”

It takes her a while to realize what Catra could possibly mean by that. Then it hits her. 

“... no…” 

“As far as she knows, we were cute little kids running around, and then we just happened to see that the Black Garnet chamber was open! And then in our innocence, we went in to explore! And oh, Shadow Weaver found us, and Adora convinced her not to punish me, so long as she kept me on a tighter leash. And that’s what the castle told her, too, because the castle used her memories… and not mine.” 

Glimmer couldn’t say anything. She knew the Horde was terrible, that Shadow Weaver did everything in her power to control everything Adora did, to mould her into the perfect soldier, but this…

“Cat got your tongue?” 

There was no hint of anger in Glimmer’s voice as she said, very softly. “What… do you remember?” 

“Oh, we were much older. It was just two years ago! Shadow Weaver was being a real jerk that day, and I wanted to have a little fun. And I wanted to get back at her. So I dragged Adora to the Black Garnet chamber, and, well… Shadow Weaver found us. Adora pleaded and pleaded, and almost hit her! Ha! Could you believe it?!” 

That sure sounded like something Adora would do. Glimmer could see it in her head.

“It was no use. I’d corrupted her, and now Shadow Weaver was going to fix that, get rid of everything I’d ever done to her… and she made me watch. And she never told me what she got rid of. Just that if I ever tried to touch her Adora again, she’d make sure to be more thorough next time.” 

There was a deep silence. Glimmer felt a tear run down her face. She released her grip on the Force Captain.

“I’m sorry.” 

Catra snarled, pushing Glimmer back with no resistance, darting off to vanish into the trees… but Glimmer called after her. 

“Wait.” 

==

As if Catra would listen to the enemy. That would be the dumbest thing in the world. She had mapping to do, she didn’t want to think about any of these memories and all this pain and. Well, Catra stopped anyways. Though she had no clue why. She vented her frustrations at the princess who, most infuriatingly, seemed to be taking pity on her now.  
“What. Do you want.”

“I just. Adora’s talked a lot about you-” 

“Oh, I’m sure she has!” 

“Do you think Shadow Weaver was right in wiping Adora’s memories of… of what you two were?” 

That made her stop in her tracks. She looked back to the princess. Oh god, that wasn’t a joke. Sparklebutt is seriously asking that. The innocence in those eyes...

“Why in the world… would she have been right?”

“I mean, obviously, it was terrible! But you told Adora that you’ve gotten so much more without her! That she was just holding you back! And if you really think that there was nothing gained from what you two had then… Do you think Shadow Weaver helped you by doing that?” 

Catra just… stared. She didn’t have anything to say. She didn’t have an answer to that. It was too confusing. One question morphed into many. Shadow Weaver thought to punish Catra by pulling her away from Adora. But if Adora was holding her back, then where is the punishment? If Catra had stayed orbiting around Adora, always second place… what would it matter? But no, that’s not how Shadow Weaver saw it. Shadow Weaver saw Adora holding herself back… for Catra. Shadow Weaver saw Adora compromising the principles that would push her ahead… for Catra. But that’s so backwards. That doesn’t make any sense, and besides all that… Shadow Weaver wasn’t trying to make sure Adora stayed on top by pulling Catra away. 

She ripped Adora way from Catra. As punishment. What was the punishment, Catra wondered. Why was this a punishment?  
What did Shadow Weaver take away from Catra?

… Catra didn’t like the answer to that last question. 

“You know… now you have everything you’ve wanted, but… you don’t have her.” 

She looked to the princess, tears streaming down her face. She screamed. She lunged, claws extended. She missed. She was against the tree again, pinned by the wrists again, staring at the face of the woman who stole Adora away from her.

“... you don’t have to be jealous. And you don’t have to be alone. And you can have everything you’ve ever wanted...”

She kissed Catra on the lips. “You just have to learn to share.” 

What? What?! WHAT?! Catra stared in disbelief, struggling to object to what just happened, that, that THING that just occurred. Why why why?! But Glimmer only smiled. 

“By the way… that was my first kiss.”

**Author's Note:**

> And then Catra tries to run off to continue mapping the Whispering Woods, but unfortunately Adora doesn't fucking listen to anyone, so two seconds later she's pinned to the ground by her ex, and shit gets awkward fast, but I'm not writing any of that shit because THIS IS A ONESHOT, MOTHERFUCKER.


End file.
